PRANAB CHATTERJEE Vs. STATE OF BIHAR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner has filed this petition under Article 32 of the Constitution for his release by awrit of habeas corpus from detention in 'the district jail, Dhanbad, Bihar State. The averments made in the petition are briefly as follows.

(2.) The petitioner along with nine others. was arrested on 9/08/1970 at about 10. 30 a. m. by the police officers headed by the Divisional inspector Parasnath Singh at village Het Kandra in Police Station Sindri, situated within the Dhanbad district. The arrest of the petitioner was stated to have been made under Section 151, Cr. P. C. The petitioner is. an activist of Samyukta Socialist Party and was. also the former Chairman of the Bihar unit of the said party. On 8/08/1970, the petitioner and his companions were standing scattered unarmed over anarea of land in survey plot No. 295 in Khata No. 49 of village Het Kandra in Jharia anchal in Dhanbad district. He was selecting suitable portion in the said land for cultivation by landless persons who were also present, along with the petitioner. The land is stated to be Gair Mazarua land. After his arrest he was taken to Sindri police station and kept there till 2-p. m. and then brought to the district jail, Dhanbad, to which he was admitted after 3.30 p. m. and is being kept in custody in the said jail under. the control of the second respondent to the writ petition, 'the Superintenden of District jail, Dhanbad. ' The petitioner was at no time produced before a Magistrate for remand in the Jail custody. The petitioner learnt from the superintendent of the Jail that he has been remarided to custody under sections 151, 117 (3) and 107, Cr. P. C. He has not been informed about the grounds for his arrest nor furnished with any other information regarding the reasons for his arrest. The petitioner has been arrested by the officers of the Sindri Police Station due to the influence of Indian Iron and Steel company who are bent upon grabbing all public lands including survey plot No. 295. The petitioner filed a. petition for habeas corpus before the patna High court on 11/08/1970, but it has been withdrawn on 4/09/1970. There has been a violation of the mandatory provisions of article 22 of the Constitution and the remand orders stated to have been passed are illegal as the petitioner has never been produced before the Magistrate.

(3.) In the return filed by the second respondent) the Superintendent of the District Jail, it has been stated that the petitioner was arrested not only under Section 151, Cr. P. O. , but also under S. 151/107/117 (3) criminal procedure code on 9/08/1970, on a warrant issued by the Sub-Division magistrate, Dhanbad. Another warrant for. the detention of the petitioner under S. 143 and 447, 1. P. C. , has been issued by the Sub-Divisional magistrate, Dhanbad, in Sindri Police Station, Case No. 3 (5) of 1970. A further warrant is also stated to have been issued by the same Magistrate on 11/08/1970 for detaining the petitioner under the same S. in sindri Police Station Case/no. 5 (8) of 1970. The second respondent also refers to an order stated to have been issued on 2/08/1970, by the sub-Divisional Magistrate under Section 144, Cr. P. C. , with which we are not at present concerned. He states that on 9/08/1970, at about 10 a. m. the petitioner and other members of the Samyukta Socialist Party forcibly entered government lands as well as the lands of the Indian Iron and Steel Company in village Het Kandra within the Sindri Police Station. After fixing party flags on the land they started ploughing the land after mobilising the villagers. This highhanded act of the petitioner and his companions was objected to by the Halka Karamchari and by the management of the Indian Iron and Steel Company. The petitioner and his companions were however, adamant in ploughing the fields forcibly despite the warning given by the police. The large number of villagers who had by then collected at the site in question were instigated by the petitioner and other leaders of the party to take part in the illegal action of ploughing the lands belonging to the government and the Indian Iron and Steel Company. In those circumstances the police apprehended a serious and imminent breach of peace and arrested the petitioner and certain others. On complaints made by the Senior Manager of the Indian Iron and Steel Company and tile Halka Karamchari to the Sindri police, the latter have registered cases under S. 143/447, 1. P. C. , as Sindri Police Station Cases Nos. 3 and 5, dated 9/08/1970 and August' 11, 1970, re respectively. The second respondent has annexed to his return a report, dated 7/09/1970, sent by the Sub-Divisional Officer, Dhanbad, regarding the circumstances under which the petitioner and others were arrested on 9/08/1970.